The 10 Best Sketches of SNL's Season 50

Direct from Domingo.

Saturday Night Live just wrapped its 50th season this past weekend. Because we’re celebrating (and we have celebrated plenty here on Feature Presentation), I'd like to list my favorite sketches from the most recent season in chronological order: 

Honorable Mention: Pip (Lady Gaga, March 8, 2025)

I wasn't in love with Dan Bulla's "Midnight Matinee" shorts this year, and while watching his third entry, "Pip," my eyes were practically glazed over - partially because the Lady Gaga episode, aside from her double duty musical performances, was one of the season's worst.

And I have to admit I was shocked when I saw that this was under six minutes long, as I would've sworn it was at least 17 minutes when watching it live...

But damn if I still don't find myself going, "Pip, you couldn't hold the two ounces, right? Right, Pip? You could've saved them?" all the time.

Therefore, an honorable mention.

Bridesmaid Speech (Ariana Grande / Stevie Nicks, October 12, 2024)

Marcello's Domingo character got so big so fast, and it quickly wore thin after two more appearances over the next four months, so it's hard to forget that this was really funny the first time. Marcello has become one of the cast MVPs and he's one of the few players with recurring characters this season, with Domingo, who soon became a cultural phenomenon, leading the way.

Heidi, Ego, and Sarah are all personal favorites, Ariana Grande is a really good fake-bad singer (you have no idea how hard that is for super talented singers), and Dismukes deserves...never mind...

What’s That Name: Election Edition (John Mulaney / Chappell Roan, November 2, 2024)

"What's That Name?" is one of my favorite recurring sketches ever. Bill Hader is super funny as the host (the way he says the phrases "10 million dollars" and "Yeah, but you didn't know it" have both stuck in my head), and as someone who's really bad with names, it's essentially my worst nightmare.

Bringing it back for the election was a great idea. I'm from Virginia, so seeing Tim Kaine, who used to read to my elementary school classes because his niece(?, it was something like that), go up there and have fun with himself, his party, and a slam dunk election (ugh) felt like a real treat.

Trump and Biden Meeting Cold Open (Charli XCX, November 16, 2024)

I feel like we need to give some love to James Austin Johnson and Dana Carvey. Dana showed up all fall to play Joe Biden (I wish there was room for Maya, Andy, and Jim Gaffigan on this list - but those cold opens were never particularly funny, Dana's Biden was always the best part, and they didn't age well...) and James will be playing Trump for years to come, (the election must've been bittersweet, huh?)

Plus, I'll take Sarah Sherman as Matt Gaetz any day, but hopefully she would need to do that one again...

Weekend Update: Christmas Joke Swap 2024 (Martin Short / Hozier, December 21, 2024)

The semi-annual Joke Swap is my favorite part of the Colin and Che Update era, and I know I'm not alone in that. It's hard to pick a favorite, largely because the bit has grown and grown over the years, and if I had to, I would probably pick the one where Colin is joined by Rabbi Jill last spring, but this one is absolutely a contender for the top spot.

Weekend Update: The Original Nosferatu (Dave Chappelle / GloRilla, January 18, 2025)

Another of my favorite Update bits from the last few years is Sarah coming to the desk, in whatever character and costume, to mess with Colin. Nosferatu (I want to think that Sarah saw the movie around Christmas, when it came out, and was like, "I cannot wait for the show to come back in three weeks, I have the perfect character...") fits right in with the rest. Sarah clearly loves the ridiculously boney fingers and she can't stop giggling through the whole thing (neither can I when she hits the Nosferatu poses), and that's what really makes this one for me.

Dog Run (Timothée Chalamet, January 25, 2025)

Overall, I liked Timothée's episode. I think that the sketches were strong, and I even enjoyed his weird little Bob Dylan musical guest experiment (sorry about that Oscar, Tim), while it seems like a lot of people didn't.

Which is why choosing this sketch, probably the internet's most hated sketch of the night, is probably a surprise. Top 10 of the year? And listen, I get it. But this one just hit me specifically. When I take my dog to the dog park, this is what I'm thinking the entire time. Dogs are weird! And funny! And this won't be the last dog-centered sketch on this list...

Mid-Day News 2 (Shane Gillis / Tate McRae, March 1, 2025)

Yes, you may have noticed that I skipped over the 50th Anniversary Special completely. That was not an accident. Other than some fun cameos and nostalgia-hitting returning sketches (Eddie as Tracy or Debbie Downer), I thought it was an overall disappointment and the least interesting of the anniversary specials.

As for this episode, I was looking forward to Shane Gilles coming back. I'm not one of his internet disciples, but I do think he's funny (even his monologues) and I think he fit right in the first time he hosted. His return also brought the return of Mid-Day News, a silly sketch about race that, for some reason*, takes place in Baltimore, which makes it even funnier for me.

*The reason is that Ego, another of the season's MVPs, is from the area and sneaks in local references from time to time.

Weekend Update: The Couple You Can't Believe Are Together on Maintaining a Healthy Relationship (Jack Black / Elton John & Brandi Carlile, April 5, 2025)

I am not going to get into the Jane Wickline of it all. And I didn't even find these characters funny the first time they tried it.

But nothing this season made me laugh out loud like the second appearance of The Couple You Can't Believe Are Together. Sure, Marcello is doing all of the heavy lifting here ("I snort a line of pre-work and watch it like TTTTTHHHHHIIIISSSS" was my line around the house for like a week), but it also became my favorite Jane appearance of the season, even if just by proxy. If Jane comes back, I hope these characters come back.

Indiana Jones (Jack Black / Elton John & Brandi Carlile, April 5, 2025)

This sketch was the reason I decided I didn't want to rank the entries on this list. This was another one that I just didn't find very funny in the moment (the pitch "a guy dressed like Indiana Jones goes on a dating show" isn't exactly a gimme), but it has, for me, become the gift that keeps on giving. I get in my dog's face, point at him very seriously, and say, "Did you just say a true fact about Indiana Jones!" about once a day. I just can't deny that it's become my quote of the season, whether that makes any sense to you or not.

Plus, Jack Black just totally commits. His episode was one of the best of the season, if not the very best, and he needs to come back more regularly.

Service Dogs (Walton Goggins / Arcade Fire, May 10, 2025)

Maybe I'm just a sucker for sketches about dogs. And maybe I find bad plays really funny. But this sketch, inspired by a five-year-old story about service dogs who have to sit through an entire musical as a part of their training, is like my worlds colliding. The animal actors are great, Walton totally understands bad William Inge (perhaps too well), and the line, "They've just never seen a bad play before" is going to join my critic's vocabulary.